DOJ Files New Charge Against James Comey Over 2016 Leak

The Trump administration has filed a new criminal charge against former FBI Director James Comey. The government accuses him of leaking classified information in October 2016. Court documents unsealed on Monday reveal the Justice Department filed a "criminal information" to extend the legal deadline for bringing an indictment. Comey’s lawyers immediately challenged the move, arguing it is invalid because it falls outside the standard ten-year statute of limitations.

The allegation centers on a New York Times story published in October 2016. The article described a secret court order requiring Yahoo to scan emails for messages linked to a foreign terrorist organization. Prosecutors state that Comey directed his staff to speak to a journalist to correct misinformation that had appeared in a Reuters report. They claim this action resulted in the illegal transfer of classified information.

Patrick Fitzgerald, Comey’s attorney, said the Department of Justice has now attempted to charge his client for the third time in just over a year. Fitzgerald noted that prosecutors previously investigated the matter and recommended no charges. He pointed to a classified memo from prosecutor John Durham in December 2018 that advised against criminal prosecution. A second investigation, opened by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Washington in January 2019, was closed in February 2020 without any charges being filed.

Fitzgerald stated that the government filed the new charge ten years after the original story was published. He argued that the law requires an indictment within that ten-year window. An information, which was filed under seal on October 6, 2016, does not meet this requirement because it does not require approval from a judge or a grand jury. Fitzgerald has asked a judge to dismiss the filing. The request is currently pending.

A Justice Department spokesperson said filing a criminal information to pause the statute of limitations is a widely recognized practice in federal court. The department described the matter as an ongoing criminal investigation. They declined to comment further on the specific details of the case.

In a video statement on Monday, Comey dismissed the new effort as an abuse of the Justice Department. He said, "Nothing’s changed with me; I’m still innocent, I’m still not afraid of these people." This is the third criminal case faced by Comey since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. The previous case, filed in Virginia, accused him of lying to Congress in 2020. A judge dismissed that case after determining the prosecutor was illegally appointed. A separate pending indictment charges Comey with threatening Trump through an Instagram post.

Comey served as FBI director when Trump took office in 2017. Trump fired him in May 2017 during an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The relationship between the two men has been strained since that firing. Comey published a memoir in 2018 that criticized Trump, and Trump has frequently called for Comey to be charged with treason. The new legal action comes just before the midterm elections next week.